Archives for January 2011

It is quite common for individuals to submit their applications for Canadian permanent residence to the wrong visa office, resulting in the return of the applications without processing. This mistake can be avoided by understanding which visa office is right for your application.

Most applications for Canadian permanent residence are first submitted to an immigration office within Canada and then transferred or submitted to a visa office outside of Canada for final processing and visa issuance. It is usually the responsibility of the applicant to select the correct visa office. Sending an application to an incorrect visa office can cause significant delays, and can also be detrimental to the outcome of your immigration plans as the application will likely be returned without processing.

How do you know which visa office is the correct or appropriate one?

Section 11 of the Immigration Regulations (commonly referred to as R11) specifies which visa office can accept and process an application for permanent residence. According to R11, a visa office can accept a permanent residence application from:

• A citizen of a country that is part of the visa office’s area of responsibility;
• An individual who is currently residing in a country that is part of the visa office’s area of responsibility, as long as that individual was granted legal admission to that country for at least 1 continuous year.

This means that you can always submit a Canadian permanent resident application to the visa office responsible for your country of citizenship, no matter where you are currently living. If you are living in a country that is different from your country of citizenship, the facts relating to how you arrived in that country, whether you had or have a visa or residence permit, and what is your status under that country’s immigration laws will determine whether you can apply to the Canadian visa office responsible for that country. This analysis can be quite complicated.

Here are a few examples that will clarify how the second provision of R11 as noted above is interpreted under Canadian immigration laws:

• You are a Nigerian citizen currently studying at a university in Australia. You arrived just one month ago and your study permit is valid for 3 years. As a citizen of Nigeria, you always have the option of indicating that you want your application processed at the Canadian visa office in Accra, Ghana (which is responsible for processing permanent residence applications from Nigeria). You also have the option of selecting the visa office in Sydney, Australia, because you have been granted legal status in Australia for more than 1 year and you are currently living there. It does not matter that you have not lived in Australia for one year.

• You are a citizen of India who initially entered the United States on an H1-B work permit valid for two years. After your work permit expired, you remained in the US without valid status and never left the country. As usual, you can select the visa office in New Delhi, India for the processing of your application. Given your circumstances, you can also choose the visa office in Buffalo, New York. This is because you were initially granted legal immigration status in the United States for more than 1 year and you never left the country.

• You are Jordanian national who was admitted to the United States on a visitor visa for 6 months. After your visa expired, you left the US for 2 months. You have now come back and again you have been admitted for 6 months on a visitor visa. You cannot have your application for permanent residence processed at the visa office in Buffalo, because you have not been granted 1 year of continuous legal status in the US. You can only choose to have your application processed at the visa office in Damascus, which is responsible for processing applications for Jordanian nationals.

It is important to note that once your file has been accepted by a visa office for processing, it will continue to be processed at that visa office even if you leave the country. This can be a problem if a visa office calls you for an interview and you are not able to return to that country. Failure to attend an interview can result in the refusal of the application. In such a case, visa offices are not obliged to transfer applications. Visa offices will usually only transfer applications to maintain “program integrity.” This usually means that they will only transfer applications when they feel they are unable to effectively evaluate the supporting documents.

R11 can be a complicated issue. Even a small error can result in the return of your application. Sometimes, this can prove fatal to an application, as in the case of an eligible occupation under the Federal Skilled Worker program that reaches its cap limit before you have a chance to resubmit your application. Be sure to verify that you are selecting the correct visa office before submitting your application for Canadian permanent residence!

An aging population combined with a shortage of nurses is a dangerous combination for the Canadian health care sector. The number of practicing nurses is declining worldwide and in Canada, the shortage of nurses is causing longer hospital wait times and a decrease in the quality of service provided.

Canadian nurses themselves are part of the problem. In the province of Quebec alone, over 71,000 nurses are now over the age of 55 and are quickly approaching retirement. Canadian nursing schools are not producing enough graduates to fill the nursing vacancies and because of this shortage, countless nurses are required to work over-time. As Canada is not producing enough nurses, foreign-trained nurses may be the best prescription.

Attorney David Cohen offers the following advice for nurses, “Although the Registered Nurses occupation has reached its cap limit under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Licensed Practical Nurses still have over 800 spots available. An applicant needs one year of paid work experience as a Licensed Practical Nurse within the past 10 years in order to qualify, even if they are not currently working as a nurse. As well, there are many other immigration programs available for nurses, such as the Quebec Skilled Worker Program and the numerous Provincial Nominee Programs. Nurses can also obtain a work permit for Canada once he/she has a job offer from a Canadian employer.” Many Canadian hospitals are currently in desperate need of nurses. Because of its shortage of nurses, one hospital in Quebec, has recently announced that they respond to any nurse who submits a resumé within 1 hour.

All nurses, including those who are internationally trained, are required to be certified by a provincial regulation body before they are able to practice in Canada. Registered Nurses, except those wishing to practice in Quebec, must also pass the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination. Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the Foreign Credential Recognition Program are working together to assist foreign workers to better integrate into the Canadian workplace. The assessment of foreign credentials and experience is currently being streamlined for 8 priority occupations, including Registered Nurses, meaning their credentials will be evaluated in less time compared to other occupations. The next set of 6 priority occupations will include Licensed Practical Nurses.

If you are a foreign-trained nurse who wants to immigrate to Canada, there has never been a better time to apply.

Quebec is Canada’s largest province in terms of size and is often referred to as “La Belle Province” or the beautiful province in the rest of Canada. Known for its European-style cities, such as Montreal, Quebec is a prime destination for immigrants from all over the world. >>Read the full article on Canadavisa.com…

There are no two ways about it. As a group, newer Canadians are getting the short end of the stick. In the next Federal election most of their votes will count for only half as much as the votes of other Canadians. This is entirely due to where they happen to reside. >>Click here to read the full blog post…

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